This real-life story of a couple that decided to ditch their jobs to travel the world might just put you off the idea. If you’re still reading, know that you’ve been warned.
If you’ve been bitten by the travel bug, chances are you have read through endless exciting accounts of people who’ve quit their jobs to travel around the globe.Exciting as it sounds, quitting your job and leaving behind your comfortable (if not luxurious) life to travel the world has its own challenges. Ask Chanel Cartell and Stevo Dirnberger. This South-African couple quit their advertising jobs and took off on an adventurous journey six months ago. While this journey has given them the adrenaline rush they were yearning for, it has also presented them with a set of problems they didn’t foresee. It is, as they say, ‘painstakingly hard and dirty work.’
Their recent blog post WHY WE QUIT OUR JOBS IN ADVERTISING TO SCRUB TOILETS paints a stark picture of what travelling in this manner really entails.
Cartell writes:
After being gone exactly 6 months, I feel it necessary we share the uglier side of our trip. Browsing through our blog posts and Instagram feed, it seems like we’re having the time of our lives. And don’t get me wrong — we are. It’s bloody amazing. But it’s not all ice-creams in the sun and pretty landscapes. Noooooo. So far, I think we’ve tallied 135 toilets scrubbed, 250 kilos of cow dung spread, 2 tons of rocks shovelled, 60 metres of pathway laid, 57 beds made, and I cannot even remember how many wine glasses we’ve polished.
You work under your own schedule, using (a lot of) spare time to jog around mirrored lakes, craft inspired creations and breathe the Arctic air. There’s nothing quite like swopping million rand advertising budgets for toilet scrubbing to teach you about humility, life and the importance of living each day as if it were your last. “It is,” she says, “like heaven for us.”
